'Organized line' of thunderstorms pelt province with hail

Marble-sized pieces of ice fell over parts of Nova Scotia yesterdayafternoon, a result of thunderstorms that were making their way acrossthe province in an “organized line,” according to a local meteorologistwith Environment Canada.

Marble-sized pieces of ice fell over parts of Nova Scotia yesterday afternoon, a result of thunderstorms that were making their way across the province in an “organized line,” according to a local meteorologist with Environment Canada.

“Currently we have thunderstorms extending from just northeast of East Dalhousie on a direct line through Stewiacke,” Doug Mercer, with the Atlantic Storm Prediction Centre in Dartmouth, said yesterday.

Environment Canada issued weather watches for Hants, Colchester and Pictou counties, stating on its website that “an unstable air mass over the region could produce severe thunderstorms giving large hail,” but Mercer said it didn’t look like the system would hit Halifax Regional Municipality.

“It may get into the northern part of Halifax County – it’s right on the edge of it,” he said. “It looks like it’s going to be drifting off towards the northeast, so basically along the spine of the mainland and then curving up.”

He said the thunderstorms were expected to settle down by early evening, adding it’s not out of the ordinary for some of Nova Scotia to experience summer “thunderstorms that will produce hail with some damaging winds.”